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Fairy Tale Review – 2005

The Blue Issue

2005

Annual

Jeannine Hall Gailey

Charming and adventurous, this new annual journal displays impressive wit and eclecticism. Right away you know Fairy Tale Review will be a different sort of literary magazine from its multiple visual references to Andrew Lang’s Fairy Book Collection, (a series of books listed by color, the Red Fairy Book, the Olive Fairy Book, etc.)

Charming and adventurous, this new annual journal displays impressive wit and eclecticism. Right away you know Fairy Tale Review will be a different sort of literary magazine from its multiple visual references to Andrew Lang’s Fairy Book Collection, (a series of books listed by color, the Red Fairy Book, the Olive Fairy Book, etc.) While the attractive matte cover with intricate cover art by Kiki Smith (depicting a scene from Little Red Riding Hood) may indicate that this belongs on a well-read child’s bookshelf, the content inside, while whimsical and full of fairy-tale lore, is meant for adults. Starting with Kim Addonizio’s salty, melancholy take on the seven dwarves in the short story “Ever After,” to Aimee Bender’s lyrical short prose piece “Appleless,” to a deconstruction of a fairy tale couple described as the text of ER staff medical history notes, everything is perfect reading for an active mind on cold winter nights. It was hard to choose just one piece to quote from, but here are a few lines from the end of Julie Choffel’s poem, “Rapunzelus Goldilockskii”: “…She saw utopia once. It was so / expensive. So vain. It made her chop off her hair and plant it. / That’s where the men grew, in the lengthy / yellowy verdure. Small from far away and big up close.” The content reaches beyond fairy tales as well—Donna Tartt discusses the influences of Peter Pan and Treasure Island, and Marina Warner weaves a dark retelling of the Persephone myth. Kudos to the editor, Kate Bernheimer, for not only collecting wonderful content but for paying attention to production details—from the clear, attractive type to beautiful reproductions of Kiki Smith’s art work, everything is stunning. [Fairy Tale Review, English Department, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487. E-mail: [email protected]. Single issue $10. www.fairytalereview.com/] —Jeannine Hall Gailey

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